MONSOON

MONSOON listeners gain an original perspective on Vietnam by following two daughters of Australian Vietnam War veterans. Sandy, an NGO worker in present-day Vietnam, persuades her childhood friend Anna (who is half Vietnamese) to join her on holiday. Kate Hood's voice is as soft as the calm Vietnamese waters the girls kayak across while sightseeing. It’s a joy to listen to her narration as she believably voices French, American, and Vietnamese characters. However, in several passages Sandy sounds nearly identical to Anna, which is confusing. Also, the production would have been stronger if Hood had depicted Anna's naïveté with more subtlety. As it is, Anna sounds more like a child than a sheltered 20-something in search of her own identity in her mother's homeland. J.T. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2008]